Connected car technology is growing rapidly with MG Hector playing a significant role in the Indian market
The automotive world has been discussing the connected car technology for quite some time. Several automakers across the world have already developed and improved their connected car technology. This week has been pretty significant for Indian car market marking two companies’ announcement about connected car tech. Hyundai was the first to reveal details about Venue SUV and now, MG Motors has revealed the details of the upcoming MG Hector SUV.
The MG Hector SUV comes loaded with a host of connected car features. It has already revealed the technology partners as well that include some big names like Airtel, TomTom, Microsoft, Cognizant, Gaana, Panasonic, Adobe, AccuWeather, Cisco etc. Priced in the sub-20 lakh category, the MG Hector will challenge rival like Jeep Compass.
MG itself is dubbing the Hector SUV as an internet car. Precisely, the brand describes the MG Hector as not just a car but a whole new experience in connected mobility. To give you a better idea about the MG Hector, it comes with embedded connectivity solutions, maps and navigation services, voice assistant, pre-loaded infotainment content, emergency and concierge services along with built-in apps.
Meanwhile, as the MG Hector is being readied for its launch soon, let me simply put how MG Hector will redefine the way we communicate with cars. Here are some of the connected car elements of the car.
AI based voice assistant:
Artificial Intelligence is everywhere in the modern tech world and being a modern car MG Hector too can’t ignore it. The SUV comes with an AI-based voice assistant that can receive and act on over 100 voice commands from the user. These include commands like open sunroof, climate control, open window, radio controls along with searching songs and navigate to places. MG has joined hands with Nuance for this tech.
Control your car using a smartphone with the iSmart app:
Land Rover did it and many other luxury car brands as well. MG Motor too will offer this in the MG Hector. The SUV will come with iSmart app that will allow the owner to control a lot of functions in the car just from the smartphone screen. The tasks this app can perform include fuel level and vehicle range, locking and unlocking the car, remotely switching on the automatic climate control. Also, it comes with features like geo-fencing, speed alert, travel plan creation, departure notification, tyre pressure notification, honk or blink light to locate the car.
Largest brain at 10.4-inch:
MG Hector gets the largest head unit in its category measuring 10.4-inch. This will work as the brain of the entire connected car tech loaded in the MG Hector SUV. Another interesting fact about it is the head unit is positioned vertically, something similar to the Volvo and Tesla. Yes, people generally tend to use mobile devices vertically and that is why MG followed this design language.
The infotainment screen comes with different themes according to the user’s preference. All the functions and technologies available in the MG Hector SUV can be accessed with a single touch in the screen. It gets pre-loaded entertainment content that will be refreshed periodically with OTA (Over The Air) updates.
OTA updates:
Over The Air (OTA) updates are something not yet available for the cars in India. While Tesla cars already come with this feature, MG will be the first to bring this tech in India. This will make sure the MG cars get updated on the go whenever there is an update available. This is exactly similar to how we update our smartphones or tablets. There will be a 5G SIM inside the car that will connect the system with MG central server.
With this, the system will receive new themes or features periodically. There will be fresh contents and updated map. The OS and firmware upgrade will make sure the car comes with new features and tech every time after an OTA update. No wonder, this looks exciting and plays a key role in the connected car arena.
Real-time traffic and up-to-date maps:
MG Hector is probably the first car in India to come with TomTom maps as pre-loaded. There are across 600 million cars across the world using the TomTom maps ensuring a day-to-day update of the large city maps. The map embedded in the iSmart platform comes bringing up-to-date maps and real-time traffic data to the users. This will ensure more convenience to the customers of MG Hector.
Music streaming with Gaana:
The MG Hector comes with Gaana app pre-loaded in its touchscreen infotainment system. It offers a premium account and ad-free music with download capability. This means the MG Hector comes with a large collection of the latest music, smart playlists and personalized recommendations.
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